Allomorphy without Context: An MaS Alternative

Abstract: Caha et. al. (2024) give an interesting account of the forms of adjectives in Czech. They propose that the different forms of the positive and comparative can be accounted for by a system of portmanteau lexical items, formalized in the Nanosyntax framework. In this squib, I give a alternative account of the data in the MaS (‘Morphology as Syntax’) framework (see Collins and Kayne 2023) without invoking portmanteau or Late Insertion. Rather, the account developed makes crucial use of the licensing of empty elements.

Allomorphy without Context: An MaS Alternative